Benner, Paul Yoder (1910-2003)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Oct 20 p. 16

Birth date: 1910 Mar 13

text of obituary:

PAUL Y. BENNER

Paul Yoder Benner, 93, of Harrisonburg, Va., died Oct. 2, 2003, of cancer. He was ill for four months and under the care of the Rockingham Memorial Hospital Hospice. He was born March 13, 1910, to Charles and LeAnna Benner in Souderton, Pa.

He married Margaret May Longacre on Dec. 28, 1932. She preceded him in death May 2, 1985. On July 22, 1989, he married Vivian Martin Troyer of Goshen, Ind.

A hosiery knitter for most of his adult life, he was an ordained deacon in the Mennonite Church and was an active member of Bethany Mennonite Church, Briery Branch, until the time of his illness.

Survivors include his wife, Vivian; two sons, Richard and his wife, Marlene, of Harrisonburg, and Stanley and his wife, Marge, of Toronto, Ont.; three daughters, Beatrice Benner of Vanderhoof, B.C., Florence Witmer and her husband, Samuel, of Broadway, and Louise Baerg and her husband, Marvin, of Langley, B.C.; two brothers, Marvin of Earlington, Pa., and Willard of Phoenixville, Pa.; three sisters, Irene Alderfer of Harleysville, Pa., Edna Styer of Hatfield, Pa., and Dorothy Shenk of Newport News; 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a son, Ernest, in July 1948, of leukemia at age 14; and two brothers, Edwin and Merrill.

Funeral services were held at Pike Mennonite Church of Harrisonburg and at Vincent Mennonite Church, Spring City, Pa. Burial followed in the church cemetery. Spring City is the community of origin for the Benner family.